Changes and Choices

Disclaimer: I do not own "Buffy: the Vampire Slayer," "Angel," or "NCIS."

AN: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the first two chapters. I love getting reviews. Those fantastic people are: mardar (twice!), Luciana Grimmaldi-Reid, Blood Roses18, bemeka, slaterbug, Poopie, and two guests!

Chapter 3

In the Shadows

Gibbs had not always liked Ellie. At first she had just seemed like a new and irritating barrier standing between him and the director, not an impassable barrier, but a barrier nonetheless. The first few times he had stormed into Jenny's office, Ellie had done nothing but squawk at him in disbelief. It was the fourth time, however, that Gibbs had been forced to feel a grudging respect for her. In the blink of an eye, she had been standing between Gibbs and the door to Jenny's office, telling him he would not enter. Gibbs very clearly remembered that: She had not told him that he could not enter or should not enter; she had told him he would not enter. And she had been right. After noting the danger her eyes held, he had turned around and walked back out into the corridor. Gibbs truly liked the woman. That was why he felt so guilty about following her now.

Ellie had been wandering around for more than thirty minutes now. After her fight with Dinozzo, she had taken off, seemingly not caring where she went. She was just so angry—why did every guy think she needed protection? It was demeaning. "I hate men," she muttered aloud to no one in particular.

"It's lucky for me then that I'm not strictly a 'man,'" said a voice behind her. Ellie would know that voice anywhere. Angel.

Spinning around swiftly, she asked, "What are you doing here?" She had meant to snap the question in annoyance, but, just as she saw him, all the breath fled her lungs and it came out as a sigh.

"You know me," he said grinning at her, "I like to show up and give you cryptic messages about some big evil."

Ellie chuckled. "Just like old times."

"Yeah." Angel grinned wryly, shifting his feet a tad nervously.

"So what's the what?" asked Ellie, leaning against a brick building.

"Really?" questioned Angel, leaning against the building too. Had she not been so much shorter than him, they would have been shoulder to shoulder. "I thought it would be a lot harder to get you to listen to me. You know, something about having a normal life now …"

"I do have a normal life now," said Ellie, frustrated by Angel's reappearance. "I have a normal job, a normal home …" She nearly said "a normal husband," but for some reason she held that back. It was not as if she wanted anything to happen between her and Angel, but, she wouldn't lie, just having the possibility was nice. Angel just smiled at her again. It was dark and they were both in the shadows, as usual, but she could make out every detail of his face thanks to her Slayer vision, and she was sure he could see every aspect of her face as well. She quickly schooled her features and crossed her arms over her chest, adopting a nonchalant pose. "How's your life going?"

"Fine," he answered noncommittally, "same as usual."

"Where's Illyria? She around here somewhere?"

"No, she's off … discovering the world … or something …"

"Is that safe?" asked Ellie skeptically.

"For her or the world?" asked Angel playfully.

"Both?"

"Eh," replied Angel, shrugging his shoulders in a way that was very familiar to Ellie. They both then settled into a comfortable and companionable silence. Ellie was trying to think over her crazy-ass day but she was finding it difficult to concentrate being this close to Angel again. He still had the ability to fill her mind completely. Angel was just basking—to use her word—in being this close to Buffy again.

Finally Ellie had had enough. "So, what's going on?"

"I don't have all the information yet," responded Angel, "but, best I can tell, it's the end of the world."

"Again?" whined Ellie.

"Yeah," chuckled Angel, "again. Look, as far as I know, there are some demons doing some sort of ritual to suck the world into Hell."

"That sounds familiar," interjected Ellie.

Angel just ignored her. "It is a demon clan called the Sargniss. I ran into a few a couple of nights ago and I can tell you that they are big, strong, and vaguely reptilian. And they make this horrible caterwauling noise that kind of reminds me of hyenas or clowns … you know, creepy things. According to the book—yes, I do research—they are also venomous. Not really something we want to be fighting."

"How does this ritual work?" asked Ellie, curious despite her promise to herself that she would not get involved.

"They need seven victims, one each night," replied Angel. "They kill the girl in a special pentagram with a special ceremonial sword and, boom, voila, end of the world."

"And they killed their first last night?" asked Ellie, thinking of the girl in her Slayer dream.

"No, last night was number three."

"Why are you telling me all of this?" asked Ellie suddenly, exasperatedly.

"Because we need to work together to stop it, Buffy," answered Angel, gazing into her eyes as he said it. He was searching for something, something that would hint to him that the Buffy he had once known was still in there, despite the new name and the fancy new clothes. He needed to know that the woman with whom he had fallen madly in love was still in there somewhere. Buffy would not stand idly by while innocents were murdered. That was one of the things that Angel loved about her. He would never forget how distraught she had been when she had found out about the prophecy that foretold her death at the hands of the Master. She had been overwhelmed by grief and fear. He remembered her crying, "I'm sixteen years old; I don't want to die." But still, she had known her duty and had gone to the Master anyway. She had been unable to abide anyone dying for her and had quickly changed her mind. She had given her life to save those around her. And, although he hadn't been there, he knew that she had done it years later to save Dawn. She was the most selfless person he knew, even if she didn't want to be.

"I'm done," she said to him so quietly that he would not have been able to hear her if he weren't a vampire. It wounded his heart to hear her sounding so broken.

"Buffy, I need you," he said, hating himself as he said it. He loved her and did not want to be the person to drag her out of the sunlight and back into the shadows.

"Why?" she asked. "Why do you need me?"

After gulping audibly, Angel said, "There's a prophecy."

"Oh great!" cried Ellie. "Another prophecy! Well, why didn't you say so earlier? You know how much I love prophecies!"

"I'm sorry, Buffy."

"Don't. Don't apologize to me," she snapped at him. "What the hell does this prophecy say anyway?"

"Well, there's a lot of number stuff that tells us that this is all happening now, and there's some random stuff about goat-herding—whoever wrote this prophecy down probably had ADD or something—and then it goes on to say—"

"What does it say about us?" interrupted Ellie.

"Well, my Aramaic is a little rusty, but it basically says that we have to defeat the Sargniss."

"What does it say?" repeated Ellie, leaving no wiggle room.

Sighing, Angel answered her question: "It says that 'the ensouled vampire striving for redemption will join the thrice-dead Slayer to defeat the Clan of Blood'—the Sargniss—'and only through their true love can they be victorious.'"

"What the hell does that mean?" asked Ellie, finding herself entirely flustered. She knew better these days than to deny that Angel was her true love, but she couldn't very well admit it out loud. She was a married woman! And she was very happy with Tony. She loved Tony. He was so different from Angel, but he was different in a good way. As much as she loved Angel, she had learned over the years that it was possible to love more than one man, and she certainly loved Tony.

"I don't know what it means," whined Angel. "These things are always really vague. It could mean anything." Catching her eyes again with his, Angel continued, "All I know for certain is that we can only win if we fight this thing together. Either we work together or the world gets sucked into Hell."

"I don't believe that," said Ellie. "I can't believe that. I can't keep doing this, Angel, especially not with you."

"You're not cookies yet, huh?" he asked, grinning wryly.

Avoiding the question, Ellie repeated, "I can't do this."

Angel nearly told her that she had to before he remembered how much Buffy hated being given orders. She had quit the Council, twice, because she didn't like doing things just because she was told to. She didn't toe the imaginary line that other people set, ever. She made her own line. "You can, Buffy," he soothed. "You just need to believe in yourself again."

"I need to go," she demurred, turning away.

Angel quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him. "Buffy, we can do this. You just need to remember who you are. Who we were." With that, Angel pulled Buffy into a kiss. It was a deep kiss that spoke to the yearning Angel had felt all these years for his Buffy, his soul-mate. Ellie meant to pull away, and even began to, but then she felt something awaken in her that she had not felt in years. As much as she loved Tony, kisses with him were never like this; they were never on this cosmic level. Suddenly, Ellie just felt calmed and complete and cookies. The kiss deepened and Ellie found a million things running through her mind.

And then it all stopped and the only thing Ellie could see in her mind was Tony's face. He looked hurt, sad at her betrayal. She hated that look. She broke away from Angel and, before he could grab her again, she ran. She ran until she couldn't run anymore. She didn't know anymore if she was running from Angel, from her past, or from herself.

Meanwhile, Angel just looked wistfully after her. He knew she needed time and he wanted to give it to her, but they were on a deadline. Unless he found the Sargniss soon, a fourth woman would die tonight. With a swish of his cloak, Angel melted into the shadows and was gone.

Gibbs sat in his car, stunned. Ellie and her "friend" had been too far away for Gibbs to hear what they had been saying and it had been too dark for him to read their lips, but he had certainly seen that kiss. He ran his hand over his face, suddenly feeling very tired. He had no idea what he was going to tell Tony. His senior field agent would be crushed.

~ x ~ x ~ x ~

Lt. Claudia Grand ran as fast as she could. There were hideous monsters following her. They somewhat reminded her of Killer Croc from the Batman cartoons she had watched as a little kid. Killer Croc had always scared her, all those rows of glistening teeth. These creatures were scarier. They were more real, too. Her side began to cramp and she could barely breathe. She may be in the Navy, but she was not in the best shape. She was a pencil-pusher, not a Marine!

A large, scaly arm wrapped itself around her neck. She could barely breathe before, but now her trachea was being crushed. Unconsciousness stole over her quickly. The demon carried her to the center of a pentagram and placed her gently in the center, stopping to brush a stray strand of hair from her face.

Lt. Claudia Grand didn't wake up as the blade slid into her. She never woke up again.

x TBC x

A/N: I say "thrice-dead Slayer" above because I count her short death after Warren shot her as a third death. I know this one is debatable, but I really like the word thrice and wanted to use it. Also, "she had quit the Council twice," because I am counting the end of the third season and my imaginary Buffy cutting off ties with the Scoobies after season seven.

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